Wednesday, August 14, 2013

What Not to Say to a Pregnant Woman

Ever since I've begun spreading the word about my pregnancy, I've loathed
enjoyed all of the unsolicited advice and comments I've been receiving
from friends, family and strangers. I've been keeping a written
pregnancy journal in a notebook and have kept track of some of my
favorites over the last 4 months.

They range anywhere from rude to
ignorant but all of them, I feel, are equally annoying.

Your life is over now that you're having a baby and/or your life is over for the next 18 years, have fun!I
would think the better thing to say would be, your life is just
beginning. I know things are going to be hard but I don't think of this
as the end of my life. I hope that doesn't happen for about 70-80 more
years.

You're never going to sleep again.Again, I know that the
first year or two are going to be hard, but I do plan on doing a lot of
reading about sleep training and how to get the baby onto a schedule.

You should probably sell your boat, fishing poles, husbands
tools, classic car and anything else you enjoy as a hobby because you'll
never get to enjoy it again.Sorry, but why would I sell a boat
and a car that are paid off and will not go down in value over the few
years just because I may not be able to use them?! I think this one
made me the most upset because my husband and I worked hard to get these
things and I don't appreciate being told that I'll never use them
again. I am sure that a toddler would LOVE to be out on the boat for a
few hours in the summer and when they get older will want to help daddy
work on his car (or at least that's my hope).

You won't be able to get a baby in the backseat of your 4 door Honda Accord, better get a mini-van!Funny,
there weren't mini-vans when our parents were kids and oddly enough my
parents never owned one. They managed to put us in the backseat of a
two door Bronco! I'm not getting rid of my car, that I love, is paid
off and gets 32 mpg, just because I'm having a baby.

Better you than me, I'm so glad I'm not having any more kids!Good
for you! Maybe if I would have gotten married 5-10 years ago I would
be done having kids as well but I didn't so here we are!

You're going back to work? Do you know how expensive child care can be?I
think the better question is, do you know about my finances?! If you
are anyone but my husband and parents/in-laws then the answer should be
no. Everyone has to make their own choices about staying home or not
and to be frank, there is no way we can afford it!

Next summer you'll be sitting at home with a crying baby while
everyone else with grown children are out on vacations and having a good
time.Well good for you and good for those people. This is also one of the rude things I am so sick of hearing!

Your kids will become your life and you won't get to do much of anything that you enjoy anymore.
I
remember being a kid and having babysitters, so my parents could go out
and enjoy an evening together without loosing their sanity. I know
there are some people who don't like to leave their children, and that's
fine but I don't expect to never have any fun again because I have a
child. Won't watching them grow be fun? Won't we do fun things as a
family or, heaven forbid, without the child?!

I'm sure that
most of the mothers reading this can agree that though pregnancy is such
an exciting time, people just don't know what to say to you. It
probably doesn't help that your emotions are on such a roller-coaster
that you're offended by nearly everything someone says, every look you
receive and every awful piece of advice or comment. If I had the guts, I
would reply to these people with the answers I've written in this post,
but for now I will just smile and remember how special this time should
be and that mean people can go fly a kite!

Amanda is a 20-something blogger from the Central Ohio area
who writes about marriage, life in the country, family, friends and
pregnancy at her blog Welcome to My Life.

About Us

Hi, we are the Stepford Sisters! There's three of us, Jairica, Stephanie, and Sara Stepford and yes, last names have been changed to protect the innocent. We chose Stepford because we are all family oriented, capable, wives with children. Each of us strive to make our homes into the perfect ideal family unit, so we thought blogging about our failures might brighten your day!

Authors' Note

This blog is best viewed using the firefox browser.

Personal photos and material are the property of The Stepford Sisters and are for your personal use only. You are welcome to link to this site or to pin or share a post from this site; please give appropriate credit for content. Thanks!